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Mistakes Can Be Happy Accidents

Every time I open up the kiln in the morning, it’s like opening a birthday present. There is always a bit of anticipation. Sometimes there is complete joy. Occasionally there is disappointment.

When I opened the kiln and looked at my pansy pendant, I was at first disappointed. In general, when creating a fused glass item, you want the piece to have no bubbles, or as few as possible. There are techniques where you actually try to create bubbles, but that was not my goal in this pendant. So when I first saw the bubble on this pendant I was disappointed. But once I put it on a chain around my neck, and looked at it in the mirror, I changed my mind. The bubble could not have been more perfectly placed if I had tried. It is dead center. Not a bubble anymore, but a dew drop giving depth to the pansy.

The bubble surfaced because of the way I layered the glass. I placed the yellow petals on the base piece of glass in a circle, leaving a hole in the middle. Next I placed a black piece of glass in the center on top of the petals. This resulted in an air space. On top of that I put a clear piece of glass. As the glass heated in my kiln the air trapped underneath the black center of the pendant began to rise up creating the bubble perfectly placed dew drop!